French 230tl - Colloquium in French Studies-Tahitian Letters: Island Paradise in the French Cultural Imagination

“I thought I had been transported to the garden of Eden”: the explorer Bougainville’s 1771 description of the abundance and beauty of “Taïti” set the tone for two centuries of exoticism in French literature and art. This course will explore legacies of Enlightenment, colonialism, feminism, and postcolonialism through the shifting representations of this so-called island paradise. Readings include travel narratives, philosophical texts, poetry, and novels by Rousseau, Diderot, Josephine de Montbart, Charles Baudelaire, Pierre Loti, and Chantal Spitz. Works will be approached in historical context, drawing connections with visual culture, global developments, and contemporary debates. (E)